Chandelier Restaurant @ Jalan Syed Putra

This was our first dining experience using the Groupon voucher, a 2 course western meal at RM33 ( usual price RM74.24) sounds like a very attractive deal. There was a footnote that the voucher exclude the RM5 jockey parking fees.

Two days prior to the visit, Chunny called to made reservations, we arrived at about 6:30pm and the parking area or maybe more suitable to say- the open space – which was situated directly in front of the Chandelier , was empty. Before disembarking from the vehicle, someone came up to us to collect a RM5 parking fee. We weren’t very happy to pay that amount of money and after a brief discussion amongst ourselves, we drove away and parked the car at a furniture showroom across the road…cheapskate ahhh ? no lah..i would say it’s a matter of principle ! And been a bit thin-skinned, we wanna give a bit of face to the shop and thus went through the glass door . We karpor around the shop, ohh-ahh over the grandiose accessories , tsk tsk over the price tag of the furniture, and after about 15 minutes decided that that was enough of face given, we slipped out of the door and walk across the road back to the Chandelier, I wonder did the carpark attendant contemplate to throw stones / shoes at us when he saw us, anyway, we arrived safely without any mishaps.

One could dine indoors or under the stars, as it was a cool windy day, we decide to dine alfresco. Chunny decide to play paparazzi , thanks to quick reactions from yours truly, Chunny’s plot was foiled. The choices for starters: Seafood soup or chef salad and for the main course , options are : whole grilled sea bass or braised lamb shank .To cover all the bases , we ordered all the above.

The chef salad had fresh tomatoes, Portobello mushrooms, rucola*, and parmesan flakes tossed together in balsamic dressing. This was refreshing and light , a good way to build up the appetite for the following course. And then disaster strike…the battery of my camera had gone flat and I didn’t bring along the spare battery….would this be a meal without photos ? would this spell the end of Bual2kosong ? was this a conspiracy of the jockey and the furniture shop ? Luckily Chunny’s handphone came to the rescue..the following photos are courtesy of my trusted makan chum – Chunny..

* checked out what Rucula is , extract from http://www.qwhatis.com/what-is-rucola/ :also known as arugula, eruca, Italian cress, garden rocket, rocket, or roquette, rucola is an edible green leafy plant that belongs to the mustard family. Its scientific name is eruca vesicaria sativa and is said to be found only in countries near the Mediterranean region particularly Portugal, Turkey, Lebanon, and Morocco.

Rucola is an annual plant related to watercresses and radishes. It could grow from about 8 inches up to almost 40 inches in height. Its leaves can grow as big as 8 inches in length while its flowers are usually 2 to 4 cm in diameter. Since the Roman times, rucola has been grown on dry ground as vegetables. It was said that the Romans used rucola leaves for cooking vegetable dishes and the rucola seeds were used as flavoring for oil. The Romans also started using the rucola plant to make aphrodisiacs and substances used for medicinal purposes.

Rucola is said to contain lots of vitamins and minerals including folate, magnesium, potassium, calcium, vitamins C and A. It is also very low in calories and the leaves can be eaten raw, mixed with salads, or cooked as normal vegetables. Many people also prefer to have rucola sautéed and added to pasta dishes, much like the pesto version that people are more familiar of. Some people also use it along with grilled meat because of its strong flavor and peppery taste.

Seafood soup – the soup was filled with prawns, mussels, squid and clams in a light tomato sauce. This was like tomato soup with seafood. The soup was tasty and we can’t help but compare the two starters and though that the seafood soup was more value for money compared to the salad

For the main course, I had the grilled sea bass. The fish was said to be ‘aromatised with rosemary thyme’ , it was rather tasty but I find the texture of the fish a bit too soft, I am not sure is that the nature of sea bass or not lah.. the fish had some green salad for company.

The braised lamb shank was a wonderful sight, it came sitting on top of a bed of mashed potato. The lamb was fell of the bone tender and didn’t have that overly strong kambing-ish smell. The fresh mushroom gravy went very well with the lamb. This was good.

While we were enjoying our meal the live band came on, this is a daily affair and comes on after 9 pm. Chandelier is pork free and serves alcohol. The ambience is cozy and romantic, a good venue for couples, and to leave a good impression on your date please pay the jockey the RM5 instead of parking your car across the road 😛